News Briefs 7-23-15

FORT LAUDERDALE —The Florida Department of Health in Broward County (DOH-Broward) recently received the Large Local Health Department of the Year award from the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) at the 2015 Annual Conference. The award recognizes the outstanding accomplishments of small, medium and large local health departments for their innovation, creativity and impact on their community.

“We are proud to receive NACCHO’s Local Health Department of the Year Award,” said Paula Thaqi, M.D., M.P.H, director of the Florida Department of Health in Broward County. “The award is a testament to the dedication and hard work of our team and to the support of the entire Florida Department of Health, Broward County Government and our community partners.

NACCHO recognized this year’s winners for their ability to align performance management with continuous quality improvement as a way to better position themselves for the future. The Florida Department of Health in Broward County created an automated performance management program designed to streamline the process to better address broad public health needs, while maximizing the use of resources.

In addition, the Florida Department of Health in Broward County received 3 Model Practices awards and 4 Promising Practices awards from NACCHO in 2015.

Genesis welcomes directorat new Bethesda location

BOYNTON BEACH — Eric Chiyembekeza of West Palm Beach has joined the staff of Genesis Community Health as operations director. He will assist CEO DeAnna Warren with the management, operations and personnel development of the healthcare center in its new location.

His responsibilities at Genesis Community Health include the administration and management of business development, clinic personnel, financials/budget, performance improvement initiatives, resource management, physician collaboration and overall operations. While assisting with the relocation, he managed the transition of data, technological support systems, marketing and communications, and vendor contracts, along with the physical facility move and re-establishment of clinic services.

Bethune-Cookman studentspresent at White House

ORLANDO — A team of Bethune-Cookman University students was one of only 10 presenters recently during President Obama’s “National Week of Making” event at the White House.

B-CU participated in the weeklong event in Washington after impressing a panel of observers at this year’s Making for Change Showcase for historically black colleges and universities. At that event, they were one of 10 other HBCUs tasked with attempting to address a community problem using a small set of resources from different corporations.

Students Fatin Cooper, Tanya Pia and Jodi Sanderson, along with adviser Dr. Brandon Noel, traveled to D.C. to represent B-CU. The group created a food toxicity tester intended to provide help for homeless people who are dependent upon discarded food for survival.

Vandalism at church is hate crime, police say

MELBOURNE, Fla. — Authorities say the vandalism of a predominantly black church on Florida’s Space Coast was a hate crime. Melbourne Police Department officials are offering a cash award for information leading to any arrests. Police say vandals wrote “SS Charleston 2” on the side of a pickup truck parked at New Shiloh Christian Church and then ransacked a section of the church.

Police say they believe the graffiti refers to the June 17 massacre of nine churchgoers at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C.

It’s the third time in six months New Shiloh has been vandalized. The 1,500-member church previously was set on fire, and juveniles later scrawled a swastika and spray-painted a noose on a storage unit.